Swastika T-shirts spark internet anger

They wanted to "share the beauty of this symbol detached from the hatred". Credits: KA Designs

A United States clothing company's attempt to reclaim the swastika has fallen flat, with widespread anger on the internet.

KA Designs created T-shirts with the rainbow-colored swastikas last month via US online retailer Teespring.com.

"The swastika is 5000 years old. It's a symbol of peace," the company declared in a Facebook video.

"But one day, Nazism. They took the swastika, rotated it by 45 degrees and turned it into hatred, and turned it into fear, and turned it into war, and turned it into racism and turned it into power. They stigmatised the swastika forever. They limited our freedom.

"The swastika is coming back, together with peace, together with love, together with respect, together with freedom.

"Introducing the new swastika."

But reaction to the "new swastika" was swift - and it wasn't all peaceful.

"You will not escape from the fact that swastika was turned by Nazis into a symbol of racism, hate, anti-Semitism and mass murder," the Auschwitz Memorial Museum tweeted.

The Israeli Jewish Congress called the T-shirt "obscene and disgusting" on Facebook.

"This is not only highly naive, but grossly offensive. What next - using ISIS symbol to promote gender equality? Hopefully management will understand the magnitude of their mistake and offense caused and discontinue these items immediately."

But the T-shirt had its fans - neo-Nazis. White supremacist website Daily Stormer came out in favour of the design.

"I want to say that I am in 100 percent support of the rebranding of the swastika as a symbol of love," wrote editor Andrew Aglin - who promised "gas chambers of love" for his opponents.

The company has now withdrawn the original designs and replaced them with "anti-swastika" merchandise.